Updating: Most of the 10 people killed in the Istanbul blast were German citizens

Date of publication: 12 01 2016, 11:54

4:50 p.m.

Most of the 10 people killed in the Istanbul blast Tuesday were German citizens, Turkish Prime Minister told German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone, sources in Ahmet Davutoglu’s office said.

Davutoglu also told Merkel on the same phone call that the details of an ongoing investigation regarding the suicide attack, thought to have been carried out by a Syrian suicide bomber, will be shared with German officials.

3:28 p.m.

Most of the 10 people killed in a suspected suicide bombing in the heart of Istanbul’s historic tourist district Tuesday were foreigners, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

He said the suspected suicide bomber had been identified from body parts as a Syrian national born in 1988, and that his links were being investigated. Kurtulmus also told a news conference in Ankara that two of the 15 people wounded in the attack were in a serious condition.

2:59 p.m.

Syrian suicide bomber thought behind Istanbul blast

A Syrian suicide bomber is thought to have been responsible for an explosion in the heart of Istanbul’s historic tourist district Tuesday which killed 10 people including Turks and foreigners, President Tayyip Erdogan said.

“I condemn the terror incident in Istanbul assessed to be an attack by a suicide bomber with Syrian origin. Unfortunately we have 10 dead including foreigners and Turkish nationals … There are also 15 wounded,” Erdogan told a lunch for Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, in a speech broadcast live on television.

2:42 p.m.

There is a high probability that ISIS militants were responsible for an explosion in the heart of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet tourist district which killed at least ten people on Tuesday, two senior Turkish security officials told Reuters.

2:00 p.m.

Six Germans, one Norwegian and one Peruvian among the injured in Istanbul explosion.

1:35 p.m.

Foreign tourists from Germany and Norway are among those wounded in the central Istanbul explosion that killed at least 10 people on Tuesday, Turkey’s CNN Turk television said.

An official from one tour company who declined to be identified told Reuters that a tourist group from Germany was in the area at the time of the blast, but it was unclear whether any of them had been hurt.

1:29 p.m.

1:21 p.m.

An explosion in the heart of Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet tourist district killed at least ten people and wounded 15 on Tuesday and some local media reports said a suicide bomber may have been responsible.

Several bodies lay on the ground in the Sultanahmet square, close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, a major tourist area of Turkey’s most populous city. A police officer and witness at the scene reported also seeing several bodies and body parts.

CNN Turkey reported that foreign tourists from Germany and Norway were among the wounded.

Turkey PM conveneda an emergency security meeting.

The Istanbul governor’s office said the authorities were investigating the type of explosive used and who might have been responsible for the attack. It said ten people were killed and 15 wounded but gave no further details.

“The explosion was very loud. We shook a lot. We ran out and saw body parts,” one woman who works at a nearby antiques store told Reuters, declining to give her name.

Turkey’s AHaber television said the blast may have been caused by a suicide bomber but this was not independently confirmed.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, ferrying away the wounded as police cordoned off streets.

“We’re taking precautions against a second explosion,” the police officer said, ushering people out of the square.

1:18 p.m.

Turkey PM convenes emergency security meeting after Istanbul blast.

1:12 p.m.

In the meanwhile a hotel is burning in Maltepe neighborhood of Istanbul.

12:59 p.m.

Terror link suspected in Istanbul blast, Turkish officials say.

12:25 p.m.

At least eight people were killed after an explosion rocked a central Istanbul square Tuesday, and several others were wounded, Turkey’s Haberturk television said.

The blast may have been caused by a suicide bomber, Haberturk said, without citing its sources. There was no official word on the case of the blast, which took place in Istanbul’s historic Sultanahmet square, a major tourist attraction in Turkey’s most populous city.

12:08 p.m.

A large explosion which rocked central Istanbul on Tuesday left several people dead and wounded, Turkish television channels including NTV reported, but they did not provide an exact figure for the casualties.

A witness told a Reuters correspondent that there were body parts at the scene in Sultanahmet square, a major tourist attraction. A police officer confirmed the witness’ account.

11:48 a.m.

Turkish police sealed off a central Istanbul square in the historic Sultanahmet district Tuesday after a large explosion, a Reuters witness said, and the Dogan news agency reported several people were injured in the blast.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the explosion in Sultanahmet square, close to the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, in a major tourist area of Turkey’s most populous city.